May 4, 2006

work fingers to the bone

work (one’s) fingers to the bone — to work very hard for a very long time [freedict]

In Desperate Housewives, Gabrielle desperately wants to adopt a baby. But when she gets one, she hates the chore to take care of the baby. She asks her husband, Carlos, to hire a baby-sitter. But Carlos doesn’t agree. He insists that the new-born baby must be in touch with the mother. “When my mother raised me,” he says, “she worked fingers to the bone.”